College of the Pacific
Events
Full Calendar of Events for Fall 2009
Gender Studies faculty and students with members of the San Francisco Mime Troupe
Student experience in the Gender Studies Program is enriched through a number of events that we host, sponsor or participate in. Highlighted here are a few of the many events we've organized in 2008-2009.
Gender and Performing Arts Festival
This three-day festival organized by Gender Studies included music, opera, theatre, film, poetry, panel discussions and more. Performances featured students, faculty and invited professionals, and the festival brought together people from the Conservatory of Music, Theatre Arts, Film Studies, English and many other disciplines who addressed gender in a creative way.
The events included:
- A presentation and workshop led by members of the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
- Panels with women performers who discussed the challenges faced by women in male-dominated professions and how obstacles can be overcome.
- A panel with film experts who analyzed the presentation of gender in different genres of film. One of the invited speakers was Professor Priti Joshi from the University of Puget Sound who specializes in Bollywood films.
- An innovative performance in which a poem by acclaimed poet and faculty member Camille Norton was put to music by Conservatory student Caroline McCaskey and performed by Pacific's Oriana choir (women's choir).
A group of students is working on producing a documentary about the Gender and Performing Arts Festival.
The Fair Sex: Gender, Justice and the Law
Gender Studies hosted a panel with Judge Mary M. Schroeder and Judge Consuelo Maria Callahan from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Schroeder and Judge Callahan talked about their experiences as women in the legal profession.
Professor Ruth Jones introduced the panel with a presentation on gender and the law.
Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics
This was a public lecture by guest speaker Ronnee Schreiber, who teaches political science at San Diego State University. Dr. Schreiber's research interests are in the area of women and politics, particularly women in American political institutions and women and public policy.
In 2008, Oxford University Press published Schreiber's book "Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics." The book examines how conservative women at the elite level seek legitimacy as representatives of women's interests, and was featured on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
Skyscraper Cinema: Architecture and Gender in American Film
A reception was held in the Reynolds Gallery to celebrate Dr. Merrill Schleier's book, Skyscraper Cinema: Architecture and Gender in American Film (University of Minnesota Press, 2009). Professor Schleier is a Visual Arts Department faculty member who also teaches courses for the Film Studies Program. In the book, she analyzes cinematic works in which skyscrapers are an integral component, interpreting how the iconography and spatial practices in these modern buildings affect concepts of gender. "The explosion in scholarship in gender and space inspired me to consider the manner in which these buildings affect male and female, rich and poor, and various racial and sexual identities in different ways," Schleier states.
Brown Bag Lunch: Pacific Women's History Month
The Gender Studies Program co-sponsored a brown bag lunch presentation of "Women of the World: International Perspectives on Gender," featuring Pacific professors Sacha Joseph-Mathews (Business), Anahita Zarei (Engineering and Computer Science), and Gesine Gerhard (History, and director of the Gender Studies Program). The event was part of the Pacific Women's History Month 2009 celebrations.
"The Power and the World" Poetry Reading by Wanda Coleman
Wanda Coleman, a renowned poet from Southern California, was hosted at Pacific, where she met with students and faculty, and conducted a poetry reading. Students from the Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies Programs attended a luncheon in her honor.
What's Going on With Women in Politics?
The week before the 2008 "Super Tuesday" primary elections, the Gender Studies Program hosted "What's Going on with Women in Politics?" The event involved a conversation with Deputy City Manager Christine Tien and Councilmember Susan Eggman, and was moderated by Cynthia Ostberg, Professor of Political Sciences and Director of the Pacific Legal Scholars Program.
Gender and Science Conference
The Gender Studies Program hosted a regional student research conference. More than 30 students from Pacific and other universities presented papers on Gender and Science. The conference featured special keynote speaker, Professor Banu Subramaniam, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her talk was titled "Alien Becomes Exotic: Gender, Race, and the Practice of Science."
Dr. Subramaniam is a widely respected scholar with a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology and Genetics, and a graduate certificate in Women's Studies. She specializes in science, gender and race, and her work builds bridges between the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities.
